‘Our forces only retaliate along LoC,’ MEA replies to Pak letter

Srinagar: Government of India (GoI) has refused to accept the allegations of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Boundry (IB) levelled by Pakistan; instead, the India’s foreign minister accused Pakistan of incursion along the LoC, reported DawnNews.

The Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday revealed received a letter from India’s Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, which she reportedly wrote in response to the letter written by Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif.

Asif had last month written to his Indian counterpart about ceasefire violations along the LoC and IB allegedly committed by India.

In his letter, the Pakistan foreign minister had called for political intervention for de-escalating tensions on the LoC which have resulted in numerous casualties.

His contention was that since the agreed mechanisms of DGMOs’ (director generals of military operations) hotline and border meetings were not working, the situation warranted a political initiative for restoring peace along the LoC and IB.

On Saturday, Pakistan FO spokesperson Dr Faisal alleged that the Indian side had once again shown a “stubborn” response.

“India only opens fire in response to the incursion,” Swaraj wrote in the letter.

The FO spokesperson clarified that India had been asked several times to allow UNMOGIP to monitor the ceasefire violation allegations but India never allowed the observers to work with full freedom on the Indian side.

“India has breached the ceasefire agreement on more than 1,300 occasions since the start of this year, he said, adding that 52 civilians have lost their lives, while 175 have been injured,” the news report added.

“The toll of violations has reached a top in last one and half decades,” he added.

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